Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey
The England-India series is certainly not short of incident, and that remained the case as Akash Deep gave Ben Duckett a rather unusual send off on day two of the fifth Test at The Oval.
After India’s last four wickets fell quickly to be bowled out for 224, England got off to a rollicking start. Zak Crawley (64 off 57) and Duckett (43 off 38 balls) put on 92 in just 77 balls for the opening wicket on a helpful pitch for the fast bowlers. Duckett in particular was quite audacious, with a mixture of scoops, ramps, and charges down the wicket to keep India’s three-pronged seam attack under pressure.
India were soon frustrated. Given the make up of their XI, they needed more control (and wickets) with the new ball. When the wicket of Duckett came in the 13th over – courtesy of a reverse scoop that went wrong – Deep pumped his fist and put an arm over the opener’s shoulder as he walked off. A few words were exchanged as well.
The pace bowler was in direction violation of law 42.3.1, commiting a level 2 offence of “making inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with another player.”
Fans critical of Akash Deep after send off to Ben Duckett in 5th Test at The Oval
England fans had plenty to say after the incident. Even India fans were disappointed by Deep’s response to the breakthrough. Also, many praised Duckett for the restraint he showed as an opposition player got up so close and personal.
“When you have batted for 43 runs in a test match, you are perfectly entitled to expect to walk off without being touched by the bowler. I hope young Akash Deep, when he has a quiet moment to himself, will be a bit disappointed with what he did,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Akash Deep shouldn’t be putting his hands on the batsman. Not cool at all. Sledge, chunter, talk as much as you like but that crossed a line,” wrote another.
